Truckers shelling out $1,200 for diesel fillups

Truckers shelling out $1,200 for diesel fillups

By Web Staff

Check Eugene/Springfield gas prices here.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - It's less than two weeks away until the Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer driving season and gas prices continue to set new records in Oregon "almost every day."
     
AAA Oregon says the statewide average for regular unleaded jumped eight cents this week to $3.75. The national average soared 12 cents to $3.73.
     
That's just two cents shy of the peak price of $3.75 predicted by AAA earlier this year when crude oil passed $100 per barrel.
     
And it's not coming down. A barrel of crude oil cost about $126 Tuesday, up from about $113 on May 1 - and more than double the price it was a year ago.

Fuel prices are hitting truckers especially hard. With diesel fuel running even higher in cost than gasoline - upwards of $4.25 a gallon in many places - filling the tanks on a long-haul semi can run over $1,200, cutting into truckers' already slim profits.

Those high costs are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices for food and other items shipped by truck.
     
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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